


Radar Technicians

by Nakira Taisho (nakirataisho)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-21 15:39:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6057013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakirataisho/pseuds/Nakira%20Taisho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey's first assignment with the Resistance: Join the First Order as a Radar Technician. Kylo's punishment for constantly failing the Order: Demotion to Radar Technician.<br/>(Partial AU, where instead of being captured on Takodana, Rey makes it back to the Resistance base.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving on Takodana, Rey is presented with a hard choice that leads her to the Resistance, and a potentially suicidal assignment. After failing multiple times to retrieve the map to Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren awaits his punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first off, blame the SNL skit for this story. And yes, the 'Prologue' is necessary. Second of all, after rewatching the film, I felt that certain details weren't set up properly.

Rey couldn’t help but want to accept Han’s awkward offer of a job. In fact, she almost hoped to find a sort of father figure in him. Before she knew it, they were about to enter the cantina.

“And whatever you do, don’t stare,” Han said tiredly before approaching the door. She and Finn exchanged a look.

“Stare at what?” they questioned simultaneously.

“Anything,” he replied, waving his hand as he pushed the door open. Rey could see that Finn was staring. She was used to this sort of diversity. There was certainly a greater population, and a higher rate of diversity, but it wasn’t anything really all that new to her.

“ _Han Solo_!” a female voice shouted over the crowd’s noise. Everything came to a rough stall, the music came to a cacophonous end, conversations halted, and a few glasses were dropped.

“Maz…,” Han sighed. It wasn’t a moment before the noise of the place slowly started back up. Rey remained silent as a female, small in stature, approached them through the crowds.

“You want something…desperately…”

* * *

After a while of discussion, Finn left the table and Rey went after him. After some pushing, he told her the truth and left. She soon heard the sound of a girl crying and she went towards it, making her way to a basement room. Inside the room, she found a box containing some sort of object she didn’t recognize.

She reached to pick it up, but the moment her fingers brushed it, she was bombarded by hallucinations. She didn’t know how long it was before she was finally able to move her body, but when she was able to, she backed away from the object as quick as she could, tripping over the threshold on her way into the hall.

* * *

Rey made it to the shore of the nearby lake and splashed water on her face. She wanted nothing to do with the Force, or any of it. But Maz had been right. She’d known deep down for quite some time that her family was never coming back for her (if it was even her family who had dumped her on Jakku so many years ago) and she was wasting her life waiting on them in that junkyard.

She looked at her reflection in the lake and made her decision. She knew mechanics. She was confident that she could pilot any ship if she set her mind to it. She decided to tell Han that she’d consider his offer after doing her part for the Resistance.

She smiled at her reflection and made her way back to the cantina. Just as she saw the doors, she also saw a ship land nearby. Not seeing any markings on it, she hid in an alley. The pilot appeared to at least have nothing to do with the First Order. In fact, she saw Han and BB-8 leave the cantina and clearly heard the excitement from the droid.

In amongst the excited whirring and beeping, she caught a simple string of words: ‘Poe you’re alive’. The pilot must have been Poe Dameron, and he was with the Resistance. Sure enough, the pilot ran to the droid and knelt in front of it as if it were an old friend.

“BB-8 you made it off Jakku!” he shouted. “And…Han Solo…?” Han responded with a nod.

“Yeah, and you are?”

“Poe Dameron, Sir,” the pilot replied, straightening up. “Where’d you find BB-8?”

“On my ship,” Han replied. Rey rolled her eyes and approached them.

“I found him in the Badlands,” she said loudly. “Finn and I escaped on the _Millennium Falcon_ with him.”

“Finn? He’s alive?”

“Likely on his way to the outer rim by now,” she replied harshly. “Anyways…how did you know where to find us?”

“Someone on the planet informed the Resistance that BB-8 had been seen here,” Poe replied. “And that means that the First Order probably knows you’re here too.”

“Then we have to leave. Get BB-8 to the Resistance with that map…,” Rey murmured.

“Yeah…exactly why we need to get out of here,” Poe sighed.

“Then let’s see how Chewie’s doing with the ship,” Han groaned. Rey nodded a little and started for the _Falcon_. Of course, the moment she reached the ship, she could see more ships landing on the surface.

“We need to get a move on,” she told Chewbacca. He called to her something along the lines of ‘where’s Han’. “He’s on his way. Let’s just get the ship started.”

“Get inside!” Han shouted, running towards them, almost dragging Finn behind him. The four of them hurried onto the ship.

“Where’s BB-8?” Rey questioned.

“He went with Dameron,” Han replied.

“And you changed your mind?” Rey directed her next question at Finn.

“I, uh…I saw that fighter land and got worried…,” he muttered in response. She couldn’t help but smile, feeling as if Finn was a brother watching over her. As Han and Chewie went to the cockpit, Rey was overwhelmed with the sense of family that she’d nearly forgotten.

“The Resistance will cover our escape,” Han called to them. “Then we head for the Base.”

“And you know where it is?”

“Do I know where it is? What makes you think I _don’t_ know?!” he shouted. Rey rolled her eyes and went to the cockpit, strapping herself into the seat behind Han. As the _Falcon_ rose over the trees, they had a clear view of the battle raging.

Blasts were firing in all directions, both from weapons carried on the ground and from fighter ships. One ship quickly broke away from the fighting and left the planet, very quickly going to lightspeed. She assumed that was Poe, taking BB-8 to the Resistance base.

“Strap yourselves in, kids,” Han instructed, prompting Rey and Finn both to do just that. And before they knew it, they were in space, the stars streaming by as they travelled at light speed.

* * *

The _Millennium Falcon_ had been tracked to Takodana. The process had been long and gruelling, but it had been done. Their suspicions were confirmed when they received word that the droid they were after had been spotted at the planet’s bar.

Kylo Ren assured his master that there was no need to prematurely test the Starkiller weapon when he could retrieve the droid, and the map it contained, himself.

When his ship landed on Takodana, he saw the _Falcon_ and one other ship take flight and leave the system. Enraged, he went to the forest while his soldiers fought the Resistance. Of course, he knew where the droid was being taken: to his _mother_. He could always sanction the destruction of the entire system she occupied to prevent another attempt at resurrecting the Jedi Order, but he knew he couldn’t stomach that just yet.

When he was away enough from the fighting, he ignited his lightsaber and started hacking away at trees, letting out his frustration. He should have gone after the droid himself when it was still on Jakku.

“Sir, the droid is nowhere to be found,” a female trooper said from a safe distance.

“I know where it is,” he said simply, powering down his saber and placing it on his belt. “Pull our forces, what we want is no longer on Takodana.”

“Sir!” she saluted him and radioed the orders before walking back to the ship with him in silence.

* * *

When Kylo returned to the Starkiller Base, he was greeted by a very discontent Hux. He ignored the general as best as he could.

“Your comment of ‘premature firing’ prompted the supreme leader to order a thorough inspection of the weapon,” Hux was saying. “Our calculations were flawed…the weapon would have backfired if we attempted to charge it,” the general admitted, sounding reluctant. Kylo couldn’t help but smirk under his mask.

At least one thing that he’d done in the past week, or so, wasn’t a failure.

* * *

When they arrived at the Resistance base, Rey had been in awe of the sheer variety the place presented. One sight in particular caught her eye: a young looking woman with dark pink skin and light blue hair, sitting away from everything with her legs crossed and hands resting on her knees. The woman’s eyes were closed and she seemed oddly at peace with the noise of the base surrounding her.

As Han and Chewie stepped off the _Falcon_ behind their passengers, the woman’s eyes snapped open and her mouth formed a wide smile as she stood smoothly. General Organa beat the woman to greeting the pair, but Rey kept her eyes on the stranger woman. She was tall, nearly as tall as Chewie, and it struck Rey that the woman was very pretty.

As she watched, the woman approached Rey, her smile bright as Rey’s stare was returned. Embarrassed, Rey looked away and mumbled an apology. She was used to the sparse population of Jakku, and had never met any being like this. The sound of tinkling bells reached the scavenger’s ears and she looked for the source, only to find that the woman was laughing.

“No need to apologize,” she said gently, a soft lilt in her voice reminiscent of a vaguely remembered instrument. “I get stared at quite a bit, particularly if someone thinks I’m a Zeltron at first.”

“I…haven’t met many near-humans…,” Rey said lamely, causing the woman to laugh again.

“I suppose since you’re here with Han, you’re a friend to the Resistance?”

“I don’t know…,” she admitted softly. “I don’t know what I am.”

“You grew up alone on Jakku, scavenging for parts and treasures…waiting for something…,” the woman trailed off, looking somewhere far away.

“How do you know that?”

“I know a great many things,” was the simple response. Somehow, at the edges of her awareness, Rey could almost feel a soft prodding sensation, as if someone was poking at her without actually touching her body. “You’re a strong one…surprisingly balanced with yourself…”

“Rey!” Finn called to her, stopping Rey from questioning the woman’s words. “Come on!” Without a word to the woman, Rey rushed to her new friends.

* * *

The woman, Kailash by name, smiled softly, sensing something to come. She’d have to keep an eye on the child from afar. Carefully, she forged a silent bond with the girl named Rey’s Force Energy, one that the girl would only notice when she became aware of her connection to the Force but that Kailash could use to protect the girl from the influence of others.

* * *

The silence in the audience chamber was almost palpable. After three consecutive failures, Kylo Ren wasn’t surprised. First, he’d let the droid get away, but it was potentially okay because the pilot had seen the map. Then, he hadn’t been able to get any information at all beyond that the pilot was indeed working for the Resistance and they weren’t coming to rescue him.

He’d let the man live for an extra hour, and then a traitorous Trooper had rescued the idiot. So it was back to the Droid. His second failure was in not killing FN-2187 back on Jakku, if the defective Trooper was dead, he wouldn’t have been able to rescue the pilot or fly back to Jakku. Of course, they were able to track the traitor to the Niima Outpost on Jakku, but a girl had interfered and got both the droid and the traitor off planet.

It had taken a while, but they were able to track the ship (one all too familiar to Kylo) the _Millennium Falcon_. The suspicions that they’d gone to Takodana were confirmed by a witness looking for the bounty on the droid. Unfortunately, the Resistance arrived at the same time as Kylo’s ship and he’d been forced to retreat. It was his third, and most catastrophic, failure.

He was honestly terrified of what his master would do in the wake of his failures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kailash is sort of my OC for the saga, but she's only mentioned after this.


	2. Working Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey successfully joins the First Order as a Radar Technician and meets her working partner Ben. Kylo Ren's punishment is to be demoted to Radar Technician, instructed to introduce himself as Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm shocked at so many views when I only posted the prologue...makes me happy.

Rey knew from the moment she was given the mission that it was impossible. It was a suicide mission, with far too many risks for the former scavenger to feel comfortable with her task. She joined the Resistance to fight for what she knew was right. But the first thing Leia asked her to do was betray them.

It would have been easy, all things considered. The few belongings she'd had back on Jakku (that she hadn't salvaged) were mostly Resistance paraphernalia, so she'd assumed that whoever had dropped her on the desert planet was part of the cause. And they'd never come back for her. Deep down, she knew they probably had no intentions of coming back. She had every reason to associate the Resistance with her abandonment.

Then she'd met Leia, the calm and confident general. This stranger had looked at Rey as if the petite scavenger was her own daughter. The others on the Resistance base when the _Millennium Falcon_ landed quickly accepted both her and Finn. In all her life, Rey had never felt so accepted. It was why the idea of this mission made her physically ill.

During the first discussion about the First Order's Star Killer machine, the revelation that Finn had no more useful information about it than basics (not his fault as he was mostly a janitor) had put a halt to any potential plans. Then _Poe_ , the pilot who had barely escaped the First Order with his life, had suggested it: someone could pretend to betray them and get inside to disable the defences. After a few minutes of deliberation, all eyes had turned to Rey.

At first, she'd blatantly refused, not wanting to risk breaking their trust. But after much rationalizing from all but the General, it was decided that she was the best for the job. She was new, and completely unknown to the First Order, with every reason to hate the Resistance. And now she was sitting in the _Falcon_ with a small pack and a lie to tell the First Order if they let her live long enough.

The plan was to land on a neutral planet for parts, where she had permission (if she felt she couldn't lie well enough) to actually attack Han or Chewie or even the pilot she was supposed to 'steal' an X-Wing from. She knew she couldn't hurt any of them, so she had to do her best at lying. Of course, she'd been warned about Kylo Ren and his mind tricks, so she was nervous about trying to lie to _him_.

Of course, she'd tell them part of the truth, she'd been disappointed by the Resistance more than a few times, first when they'd abandoned her on Jakku with empty promises, then when she'd attempted to join them. She'd claim they'd ignored her skills as a pilot and set her to janitorial duties or some other low level grunt work; that no one gave her a chance because of her life as a scavenger. Hell, she'd even claim that someone had attempted to make her have sex with them to get any sort of recognition if she had to.

Rey was pulled from her worried thoughts as Chewie called something to her. She didn't know much Shyriiwook, but she could tell as they began a mostly gentle descent, that he'd meant to tell her that they were there. Somehow the idea of being on solid ground wasn't all that comforting to her. All it meant was that she was about to start this impossible mission.

* * *

He was being punished, that was true, but _this_ was more than punishment, it was humiliation. He'd been essentially demoted to the lowest of the low. In a position he knew nothing about beyond vague memories of Han Solo attempting to teach him about mechanics. His only salvation from complete degradation was the simple fact that none of his officers had been informed of his temporary demotion.  And to add to his humiliation, he'd been instructed to introduce himself as _Ben_.

It was a test, he decided. It had to be. There was always a greater purpose to suffering. This would either strengthen or destroy his path in the Darkness. Reaffirm the destruction of 'Ben Solo' or resurrect his former self. He would either survive this stronger, or he'd be killed as a traitor.

He steeled himself as he trekked through the complex in plain clothes, going straight to the dormitories and then to his assigned room. Unfortunately, he wasn't told much about how things in the dorms worked. A prime example of it was when he arrived in the room to find someone already occupying the space. Sitting on one of the two beds in an all too familiar position of meditation, was a young woman in her undergarments.

* * *

Rey found it a little too easy to lie to the First Order when they captured her. She'd been expecting the masked terror Kylo Ren to oversee her interrogation, but he was nowhere to be found. Blessedly, it was a female conducting the interrogation. She didn't know what to expect of a more irrational male interrogator.

Captain Phasma, as the Troopers had referred to the woman, had removed her helmet the moment they were in the privacy of a simple room. Rey even had a moment to look around the space before the giant of a woman had gestured to the two couches facing each other with a simple table set between them. Swallowing heavily, Rey sat down and was surprised when Phasma sat across from her.

A side door she hadn't noticed opened with barely a mechanical 'swoosh' and a droid came into the space, carrying a tray laden with finger sandwiches and a steaming drink. The droid set it down on the table before leaving the way it had come. Phasma lifted a cup from the table and paused, clearly waiting for Rey to take the other cup.

"It's not poisoned," the woman laughed without humour. Rey hesitantly took the second cup and took a slow sip at it. "We heard the transmissions from the Resistance concerning your rather violent rebellion against them."

"I guess that's why I'm not in chains?" Rey questioned, wondering just how violent the transmission claimed she'd been. They hadn't told her that they would put out any sort of transmission concerning her 'rebellion', but she supposed it was a way to keep up appearances.

"That's exactly the reason," Phasma agreed. "I'd just like to clear a few things up."

And so the conversation continued in that way over those drinks and finger sandwiches. Rey savoured the treats, as she figured she wouldn't be eating anything that nice again anytime soon. Before she knew it, she was being escorted out of the room by a Stormtrooper and to what seemed to be a dormitory for 'civilian employees'.

The trooper opened a door for her, stating it was her room to share with her working partner (whatever that meant) and that a uniform would be provided shortly. Sure enough, she barely had time to look around the room before a service droid entered the room with a neatly folded pile of clothes and a small pamphlet. It set the pile on one of the beds in the sparse room before leaving in silence.

Rey sighed and sat on the bed, opening the pamphlet. It detailed regulation hairstyles for women (her current hairstyle not included in the list) and other female appearance guidelines. Her biggest question was answered on the last page of the pamphlet: _For the safety of our employees, all departments work in pairs. These working pairs, in order to forge a cohesive team, will live together in their dormitory, and spend all time off duty together._

With a sigh, she put the pamphlet aside and started changing clothes, tucking her old clothes in a drawer under her bed. The pile of clothes contained two sets of work clothes, a bright orange vest with tool pockets and such along with the words _Mechanical Technician_ on the back, a set of soft pyjamas, and fresh underwear. Glad for that, she changed underwear as well.

Not sure when her roommate would arrive (and deciding that since they were supposed to spend all their time together, a little view of her in her underwear in their private chambers wouldn't be a bother) she went ahead and pulled her hair down and rearranged it into a braided bun at the base of her head before sitting on her bed. She pulled her legs up onto the mattress, attempting to mimic the meditative pose that she'd seen the woman Kailash in before. She almost succeeded in finding some sort of internal quiet away from her worries when the door opened. She cracked her eyes a little to see a shocked looking man in the door, his head barely a few centimetres below the top of the door frame.

* * *

Kylo was dumbstruck, both by the fact that he was stuck with a roommate for this torture and that it was a woman. He barely contained the startled gasp that he almost made on seeing her sitting there in her underwear. As it was, he was sure he _looked_ aghast. He'd never been all that good at hiding his emotions.

"So…you gonna stand there and stare all evening or what?" an accented female voice spoke, startling him. He'd seen her mouth move, but the accent had surprised him.

He watched as she unfolded her limbs and let her legs dangle off the bed. He shook his head a little and went to the other bed. He looked her over as discreetly as he could. She was petite, with a tan complexion and dark hair pulled into a braided bun. For a fleeting moment, he was reminded of his mother in her younger years, but he forced that thought away before it could truly form.

"Are you new here?" she questioned him as she stood to get dressed. It took a surprising amount of effort for him not to stare at her as she moved, her chiselled muscles rippling with each motion.

"Yeah…," he replied after a moment, not used to casual conversation.

"Same," she admitted. "In fact, I just arrived on this planet…"

"Where are you from, then?" he asked before he could contain his curiosity.

"Jakku," was her simple answer, and he was sure that even without the Force at her disposal, she could feel the rage that nearly overtook him. He barely managed to keep himself in check enough to avoid using the Force. "I was a scavenger."

"And…how did you end up here…?" he questioned her, his curiosity overtaking his rage at his failures on Jakku. She smirked, lifting her chin.

"I stowed away on a Resistance vessel, but when they turned me out, I stole one of their X-Wings and came here," she told him, an air of pride in her voice, likely at the fact that she'd fooled the Resistance twice. She finished dressing and resumed her seat on the edge of her bed.

"Why'd they turn you out?" he was genuinely curious about this girl's story. He'd never heard of his mother turning anyone away.

"They didn't believe a _scavenger_ could have any skills they'd need. One officer tried to get me to _sleep with him_ to get him to vouch for me," she told him quietly, her soft features hardened into a scowl.

"No wonder you left them," he said simply. It struck him suddenly that he was growing comfortable with making conversation.

"Doesn't help that they left me to rot on Jakku when I was a child," she said sourly.

* * *

Rey found conversing with her roommate surprisingly easy. And the lies were already coming easier. And it was the same story she'd told Phasma. With surprising ease, she scowled on telling him of the fictional sex proposition.

"Doesn't help that they left me to _rot_ on Jakku when I was a child," she said with a sincerely sour tone. "By the way…," she continued, realizing that she didn't know his name. "What's your name?"

"It's…Ben," he replied, almost as if he was uncomfortable with that name. She decided not to question him about that.

"Rey," she said lightly, taking a closer look at him. There was something familiar in his long face, but she couldn't quite place it. She'd readily acknowledge that he had a sort of beauty to his features.

"Nice to meet you, then…," he said quietly. "Um…do you know what's going on here? You know…with us being roommates?"

"They didn't tell you?" she questioned him, surprised. He shook his head in response and she hopped off her bed to grab the pamphlet she'd read through. "It's on the last page," she told him as she handed it to him. "Though I'm sure they'll bring you a uniform and pamphlet of your own soon enough."

Sure enough, no sooner had the words left her mouth than a droid entered the room and set a second bundle of clothes and paper on Ben's bed before leaving without so much as a mechanized word. Silently, her roommate set the pamphlet she'd handed him aside and picked up his own, starting with the grooming regulations on the first few pages. The way his wide mouth stretched and his features almost took on the look of a wounded infant wookie had Rey suppressing a small giggle.

"Do you have to cut your hair?" she asked him, trying to sound serious.

"No…Do you have an extra hairband?"

"Yeah, I only used two to manage this…," she replied, moving to dig out her third hairband from her old clothes. When she found it, she crossed the room and handed the elastic to him. He paused in reading to take it and awkwardly pull his thick hair into it. This time, she actually did giggle.

"What's so funny?" he snapped at her.

"Have you never worn your hair up in your life?" she questioned, sitting beside him. "Here…you look ridiculous like that…" Trying to get a better angle to reach his head, she crawled up onto the bed fully and got on her knees behind him. "Hold still."

He started to turn his head to protest, it seemed, but Rey held his head firmly in place with one hand while she carefully tugged the elastic out of his dark curls. She then nimbly worked her fingers through his hair to get it all into a neat little knot at the base of his head. When she finished, she crawled off the bed and returned to her own.

"Thanks…," he mumbled, carefully touching his hair as if he were afraid the slightest touch would make it come undone.

"Well, we're apparently supposed to be spending all our time together, no reason not to be friendly," she said with a shrug. But thinking on it, she'd kind of enjoyed fixing his hair, probably a bit more than she should have. There wasn't anything about getting sexually involved with co-workers in the pamphlet, but she didn't want to risk really and truly betraying Leia's trust by developing feelings for someone loyal to the First Order.

They spent the remainder of the evening in relative silence as Ben settled on his side of the room. Rey wondered if he'd be too tall for the bed. He was surely taller than Han Solo. And for a fleeting libido fuelled moment, she wondered how far she'd have to reach up in order to kiss him.

She had no idea where the thought had come from, but she knew it was probably because she hadn't been sexually active for months before leaving Jakku (sometimes her body was the best thing to use to get enough water or supplies from the greedy mongrels at the outpost) and her body was naturally craving some sort of activity. As the evening wore on, Ben finally started to get ready for bed, taking a cue from her almost nude appearance when he'd arrived and stripping right in front of her.

When his back was turned, Rey barely managed not to really examine his body. He was fit, and pale scars marred a good portion of his torso. She wondered where he'd gotten them, but he hadn't pressed her for information on her time on Jakku, so she was going to respect his privacy in that area as well.

 _This is going to be a long assignment_ , she decided as her mind wandered and she found herself wanting to trace her fingers along Ben's scars.

Finally, he pulled his pyjama shirt over his head and climbed into bed. She was oddly satisfied to see that his feet dangled off the end of the bed.

* * *

The next morning, Kylo woke to the sound of the shower going. He looked at the chronometer on the wall and decided it was too early to be out of bed. It was at least three hours before morning rations. He rolled over in his bed and tried to find a comfortable position again. It had taken him a good half hour to get comfortable the night before. It was just another note in his humiliation.

His usual morning erection didn't help him find any extra rest, particularly when his mind wandered to the girl occupying the shower at that moment. He'd seen clearly that she was quite fit, and she was very attractive on top of that. While he'd been able to maintain his composure at the fact that he'd have to spend most every waking moment with Rey (someone he could undoubtedly say he'd be sexually attracted to) the previous day, wide awake and able to compartmentalize his thought process, in his current, half asleep state, he almost wondered if there were regulations about getting sexually involved with a 'working partner'.

The water in the adjoining room shut off and Kylo rolled over in bed again, almost self-conscious about his bodily functions. He could barely hear Rey moving around in the bathing room, and he tried to ignore it. He also tried to ignore the libido driven thoughts that started going through his mind.

He wondered if her skin was rough from living in the desert for the majority of her life, and how it would feel to trace the lines of her muscles. He remembered her calloused fingers in his hair and the scent that had come from her when she was behind him fixing his hair. She smelled like earth and grease, and he wondered if the soap she'd just used would erase that smell.

Infuriated with himself, Kylo shook his head a little and tried again to get comfortable in his bed. Sure, there had never been restrictions on his sexual activity. If anything it was encouraged, but this wasn't a common whore he was dealing with. He was expected to work with her, until the time came when he was brought back to where he belonged.

Rey returned from cleaning up and he could hear her padding quietly around the room as she got ready for the day. Kylo feigned sleep, hoping she would remain silent. He had no such luck.

"What time is breakfast?" she asked after a long while. He groaned in annoyance and looked at the chronometer again.

"In two hours," he told her simply, honestly giving up on sleep. He sat up in his bed and looked at her. "Why are you up this early?"

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "I usually woke with the sunrise back on Jakku…"

He said nothing in response, but he got out of bed and went to the washroom and cleaned himself up. He hoped they wouldn't be doing anything vital in the work day, simply because he wasn't in the mood to be humiliated further by being publically called out about his lack of knowledge in mechanics.

When he finished getting ready, he sat on his bed. Thankfully Rey remained silent until it was time to go to the mess hall. He was also grateful for the fact that no one but his master would associate his face with his identity.

They walked side by side to the mess hall, where there was already a line of troopers and staff retrieving their morning rations. Most everyone was chatting about their assignments for the day. He overheard a few troopers talking about FN-2187 and his betrayal, but he tuned that line of conversation out. It didn't seem to take all that long for Kylo and Rey to get their rations and find a mostly empty table to eat at.

He glanced around, curious about the appearance of the troopers under their helmets. They were all equally physically fit, of course, but there was a surprising amount of diversity among them. They were all mostly the same height, with slight variations among them, and the occasional trooper who towered over his comrades. And they had a wide range of skin tones and facial features.

Kylo ate in relative silence, barely paying attention as Rey questioned him about his skills in mechanics. She seemed to become increasingly frustrated as every question was answered with a resound negative or confusion. Quite a few of the terms she was using weren't even vaguely familiar to him.

"So they saddled me with a trainee?" she groaned at last.

"I…wasn't interested in mechanics until recently," he lied. He almost told her a small truth, that his father had attempted to teach him when he was a child, but acknowledging even that small amount of presence that Han had had in his life would be acknowledging the man as anything other than an obstacle to truly snuff out the Light.

"Well, here's hoping we don't get a vital assignment today…," she muttered. He came close to admitting it would be just his luck that they _would_ get a vital assignment, but he held his tongue.

* * *

Rey was astonished. It must have been a test of her skills, or a cruel joke. She hoped it was a test of her skills, to see if she could adequately perform her job _and_ teach Ben how to do the work as well. Either way, she hoped that she didn't have to teach him in the midst of something that could potentially destroy everything (ahead of schedule, at least).

She voiced her concern, almost sarcastically, and the look on Ben's face with her comment made her wonder if he would say something along the lines of 'it'd be just my luck'. Fortunately, he held his tongue. When they finished eating, they went to an office to get their first assignment, walking almost in sync despite the difference in their strides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are great, but comments are better?


	3. The Worst of Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first assignment together shows Rey just how inexperienced with mechanics her partner is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so long in coming! Work and life plus writer's block on everything. Hopefully it won't take so long next time. And I'll probably be changing the rating in the next couple of chapters just fyi.

Sure enough, they had the worst luck. Kylo actually felt sorry for Rey, having to deal with his incompetence as they were instructed to repair some vital piece of equipment on the base. Of course she guided him through their task with surprising patience, even after the fourth time he nearly electrocuted himself by misaligning the _same set_ of wires.

He almost wished he'd had the patience as a child to actually listen to his father's lessons. If only for the fact that then he wouldn't be embarrassing himself like this. He barely managed to keep the rage he felt at his failure here bottled up.

Finally, on the fifth try, he got the two wires into the correct positions and Rey secured them expertly before directing him through the next part of the repair. He managed to get things right the first time around this time. And so it continued, with his contribution being rather slow and generally painful.

At some point, a pair of troopers heading towards their station paused in their route to bother Kylo and Rey. The shorter of the pair, likely barely Rey’s height, crouched behind her and reached to squeeze her butt. Being beside her, Kylo clearly saw rage flash in her dark eyes as she picked up the nearest tool (if asked, he wouldn’t have been able to give the name of it).

"So, since when do they let kittens like you do dirty work like this?” the trooper asked, causing his companion to laugh a little. That really set Rey off and Kylo watched almost in awe as she whirled around quickly, bringing her tool around in a wide swing.

Before either trooper could react, the heavy metal tool in Rey’s hand slammed into the offender’s helmet with enough force to send the soldier back a good metre.

* * *

She couldn’t have been more unlucky with this job. Sure, it was lucky that Ben had no idea what he was doing, and that gave her a chance to do what she needed to do in order to slowly sabotage the super-weapon that the planet housed. But at the same time, he’d already shocked himself four times with the same set of wires she was trying to get him to realign (admittedly in the opposite positions to what was expected, but things would run smoothly so long as the weapon wasn’t activated) and she was honestly starting to lose patience with him.

Finally, he managed to get the wires in their proper positions without hurting himself. And the next set of wires, he managed without much trouble. She thought he might be making progress, but then he electrocuted himself again and Rey shook her head tiredly. They continued with that hit and miss work, and Rey was tempted to try casually instructing him on other parts of the mechanics they were working with.

But then, she absently heard a pair of Stormtroopers, probably on their way to a post, walking towards them. She faintly heard something like a whistle from one of them, but she wanted to think she’d heard wrong. The pair stopped walking and her hand hovered over a ratchet. She heard the light rattling of the trooper’s armour as one crouched behind her.

She felt his hand on her ass and rage swelled in her. A ringing in her ears blocked out whatever he said to her and she clenched her hand around the heavy tool. When the other trooper laughed, she whirled on them, slamming the ratchet into the offender’s helmet with all of her weight behind her swing.

The man stumbled back a good metre and landed in an undignified heap. Rey pulled herself to her feet, patting her metal tool against her free palm. She glared down at the trooper, and in the corner of her eye, she saw the other man step back.

“Just _what_ do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “I don’t recall giving you permission to touch me,” she continued when he didn’t reply. She vaguely noticed that she’d managed to damage his helmet. “Nothing to say for yourself?!” she demanded.

“Oh, come on! It was a compliment,” the uninjured trooper said to her. She whirled on that one. He was at least a head taller than she was, but she didn’t care. She’d taken down scavengers twice his size on Jakku.

“A _compliment_?! A _compliment_ is admiration from afar! You want to _compliment_ someone, you give them space and say things like ‘you look pretty today’, or ‘I like your hair’!” she raged, actually throwing her ratchet into the man’s head. The trooper stumbled back a few steps and she could almost feel that he was glaring at her under his helmet.

“Your ass was sticking out and begging to be touched, you little bitch,” the trooper she’d first struck snapped, getting to his feet. Rey was a little surprised to find that he was, in fact, several centimetres shorter than she was.

“Is there a physical sign anywhere near me that states ‘free to touch’?” she questioned. Sure, she knew from experience that men seemed to care more about their libidos than anything else (she’d even used that to keep from starving once she’d realized it) but this was ridiculous. At least the men on Jakku knew to respect even the space of the whores.

The trooper stammered a little, fishing for a response. “The answer is _no_ ,” she snapped. “Unless you have express permission, do _not_ touch someone! I should take down _both_ of your serials and report you to Captain Phasma for sexual assault!”

The pair looked at each other and then fled the scene. Rey let out a heavy sigh and retrieved her ratchet. She then resumed her position beside Ben and yanked the set of wires he’d been handling from him. She purposefully touched the exposed ends together, sending a shock through her fingers and up her arms. She handed the wires carefully back to Ben.

“The red one goes to the blue clamp and the green goes in the red one,” she told him, focusing on the residual electricity in her veins to try and cool her head.

* * *

Kylo watched in utter shock as he held a pair of wires carefully apart. Rey’s outburst had caused damage to both of the troopers’ gear. He wasn’t all that surprised at her rage, really. Even he knew better than to touch someone without their permission, especially in a sexual way.

Watching Rey in this moment reminded him again of his mother when he was younger, arguing with her husband over one of his antics. Of course, most of his parents’ arguments either ended in Han leaving for weeks or with them having rather angry sounding sex in their bedroom. And he knew that wouldn’t happen in this instance.

He was brought back to the present when Rey threatened to report the pair of troopers to Phasma. He watched the pair flee for their assignment and wondered fleetingly how they intended to explain the damage to their helmets. Kylo turned his attention to Rey as she stalked to her tool-turned-weapon and picked it up.

The petite brunette stalked back over to him and resumed her previous position before snatching the wires out of his hands and electrocuting herself with them. He was sure his jaw had fallen slack with shock as she handed the wires back to him and instructed him on where to position them.

Kylo wondered why she’d purposefully injured himself, but he recalled times when he would either injure himself or attack existing injuries to clear his mind. Perhaps in her harsh life on Jakku, she’d found that as the quickest way out of a rage.

They finished their task without further incident and reported in. They were congratulated on a job well done and directed to the library with a note about where to find materials on mechanics and blueprints of the facility. The overseer instructed them to take the rest of the day to study.

Of course, Rey was far more eager to get to the library than Kylo was, but that was likely because he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about his situation. He went with her, all the same, because he had to keep up appearances. When they arrived in the base library, she went straight to the section they’d been told about.

Honestly, Kylo was more interested in the texts on strategy and the history of the old Empire, or even the pilfered texts on Force manipulation. He sat at a table within the mechanics section and watched Rey dig through the collection of holorecords and hand written texts. She set a small selection on the table in front of him before nimbly scaling the shelf unit to get to the top shelf.

At the angle he was at compared to her, he could see her clothes shifting in almost the most flattering way over her body. He continued watching her as she plucked a holorecord from the shelf and tucked it into her top before descending to the ground again.

* * *

Rey had never seen so many records in all her life. She glanced around the large, mostly uninhabited, library. She found her way to the proper section and tried to ignore the other sections that they passed. Some would be good to read later on, she decided.

Oddly, outside of the area containing the technical manuals and blueprints, she was most drawn to the small sign pointing towards a ‘restricted section’. Well, maybe that was her desire to discover the treasures others didn’t want found. They arrived at the correct section of materials and Rey immediately set to work, hunting down basic terminologies and guides for Ben.

She barely noticed him fold himself into a too small chair as she searched. She had a feeling there was probably a catalogue somewhere, but she preferred to physically search for her treasures. The blueprint she was looking for was nowhere within her reach, so she shed her orange vest and started climbing the shelf unit to search. It crossed her mind as she climbed, that there might have been a ladder nearby she could use, but it was too late for her to stop.

She found her prize on the top shelf. Clearly labelled on the side of the holorecord was _Starkiller Mechanical Blueprints_. Smiling at her success, she tucked the device into her shirt and carefully made the descent to join Ben. She dropped the last couple of metres to the ground and joined her roommate at the table.

“These are for you,” she told him, pushing the materials she’d gathered towards him. “So we don’t have so much trouble next time.” He nodded a little and started reading.

Satisfied with the situation, Rey switched her holorecord on and started looking over the projected information, memorizing the blueprints. They passed the rest of the day in silence, sitting across from each other in the library, each studying their own materials.

* * *

Kylo lost track of time as he read, finding the information surprisingly interesting. He barely registered that Rey had only been studying a single holorecord: the one she’d scaled the shelves to retrieve. He paused in reading to see what she was so engrossed in.

The most he could discern from the projected image she was examining was that it was a set of blueprints. Probably the blueprints for the super-weapon they were on. He supposed he could understand why she was clearly memorizing the schematics.

“Attention personnel, last call for evening rations,” a mechanical voice stated calmly from an overhead speaker. It was already evening? His stomach growled, as if just realizing that he hadn’t eaten since that morning.

Kylo hastily shut off the holorecord he was reading from and looked at Rey. She followed suit and stood, leaving their materials on the table as she retrieved her vest. They both knew a droid would come and put things away during the night. The pair left the library, again with almost perfectly matching strides, and made their way to the mess hall.

The moment they arrived, a trio of unmasked troopers surrounded them. Kylo immediately recognized them based on the height of the one directly in front of Rey. The pair of troopers Rey had scared off earlier in the day had brought a friend with them for revenge.

“Not so bold without your toolbox around, eh?” the shortest questioned with a smirk, reaching to grope Rey’s breast. She clearly saw through his intentions and caught him in a painful looking arm hold before he could touch her. The man cried out in pain.

“I don’t need a toolbox to make you regret messing with me,” she said sharply. The trooper’s comrades stayed where they were, clearly afraid to make a move. And rightly so, as Rey had easily overpowered one and Kylo towered over them. Carefully and silently, he pushed into their minds with the Force, compelling them to continue maintaining their distance.

He’d honestly never attempted using Force Compelling without a vocal command, and he found it draining, but he wasn’t sure if Rey could take all three at once, and he couldn’t physically fight any of them to help her without revealing exactly who he was. He preferred to remain the terror in black of the First Order, and he had no intention of revealing that ‘Ben the incompetent radar technician’ was, in fact, Kylo Ren the right hand of the Supreme Leader.

His trick seemed to work, because the two slackened their positions just enough. The shortest one finally surrendered to Rey as she nearly broke his arm. The former scavenger released him and he scrambled to his friends’ sides.

“Just what is going on in here?” Captain Phasma’s voice said from behind Kylo, filtered through her grey helmet as she entered the mess hall.

“That new bitch just up and attacked me!” the shortest trooper shouted. “Nearly broke my arm just now.”

“Ah…the one that you claimed damaged your helmet earlier today ‘for no reason’?” the captain laughed harshly, without humour. “All three of you, come with me,” she instructed the troopers. Kylo quickly removed his hold on the minds of the troopers and he and Rey watched as the trio donned their helmets and followed the Phasma out of the mess hall.

A group of civilian faculty erupted into cheers as the group left and Kylo and Rey proceeded to the line to get their rations. When they arrived at an empty table to sit down, a group of women surrounded Rey.

“Thank you _so much_!” one said brightly.

“He’s been hassling us non-stop for the past few weeks,” another agreed.

“But none of us have been able to stand up to him and his friends.”

Kylo watched as Rey humbly accepted the thanks, an embarrassed flush to her cheeks. Finally, the crowd of women dispersed and they finished eating in peace. He didn’t say anything to her as they gathered their dishes and went to put them in the proper bins.

In fact, he held his tongue until they arrived in their room and Rey automatically began stripping out of her work clothes. He couldn’t think of what to say to her, so he followed her example and began changing clothes.

* * *

Rey barely acknowledged the praise of the women who surrounded her at the table. To satisfy them, she feigned humility, though the flush she could feel in her cheeks was genuine. No one had ever really praised her before. After several agonizing minutes, the women dispersed to allow Rey and Ben to finish their rations in peace. Fortunately for Rey’s nerves, Ben didn’t say anything to her.

She got the feeling that he didn’t care much for casual conversation. And that was okay with her. Now that she’d had the opportunity, she felt that she wasn’t very fond of interacting with strangers.

Of course she was fine with the idea of talking with Ben, likely because she knew she had to maintain a friendly relationship with him in order to avoid suspicion. But at the same time, she was starting to get the feeling that there was something else that was drawing her to him.

She finished eating right before Ben, but only just, and they went to put their dishes in the proper bins for cleaning. And then they went to their room in silence, their steps in sync again. She wondered why they were already able to match their steps despite the difference in their heights and the fact that they’d barely met, but she didn’t voice the question.

Once they were inside the room, Rey started stripping, putting her dirtied work clothes in the laundry bin for a droid to come wash. She glanced over at Ben as she pulled out her pyjamas, debating on whether she should shower again or just go to bed. Her breath almost caught. She’d seen his back in detail, but this time he was facing her.

She barely managed to contain her urge to cross the room and trace his muscles and the map of scars that etched across his skin. Quickly, she decided to take a quick shower before bed and gathered her pyjamas and fresh underwear. She hurried to the next room and turned on the water, setting the temperature to cool. She stripped out of her underwear and tugged her hair out of its bindings.

She didn’t even bother to try and get rid of any tangles in her long hair before getting under the spray of cold water. She hit the wall lightly as she let the water run down her body. This wasn’t part of the plan, having a working partner to observe her every move and remind her of her libido. She glared down at herself as she ran her hands up her body.

Not surprisingly, with the cold water, her nipples were hard (something that on Jakku was almost always simply due to arousal with the lack of even mild temperatures) but when she carefully touched herself, she was wet. Had just _looking_ at Ben gotten her that aroused? She shook her head to banish her thoughts and turned off the water, satisfied that the sweat from the day’s exertions had been washed away. Rey sighed and grabbed a towel, drying herself off as best she could before putting her hair at least back into a tight braid and getting into her pyjamas.

When she emerged, Ben was fully dressed in his pyjamas and watching for her. She looked away from him and climbed into her bed.

“Are you okay?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m fine,” she said softly, rolling over to face him. “You think you can manage to get through the day without electrocuting yourself tomorrow?” she tried to sound light.

“I think so,” he replied seriously. “Well…good night,” he added awkwardly before laying down. At first, his feet hung over the end of the bed, but he quickly folded himself into an almost foetal position in an obvious attempt at getting comfortable.

Rey watched for a moment before rolling over again and trying to get to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thanks for the reviews and kudos guys.


	4. Movement in White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shared dream leads to ‘fraternization’.

Three days had passed with relative ease. Ben at least was a quick study, Rey decided. The only downside to the arrangement was that she couldn’t be alone in a room with him for more than a few minutes before her libido started piloting her thought process. Currently, she was actually pretending to take a shower while examining the small window near the top of the wall in the small room.

She had a feeling, after finding her way up the wall, that she could fit through the opening without being spotted, but since she hadn’t had a chance to check the surveillance systems and cameras, she didn’t want to risk putting her second plan into action. But she had an idea where to start on it at least.

Satisfied, she stripped and stepped under the cold water of the shower to give some sort of truth to her ruse in the room. She shivered under the cold stream, but let herself get soaked through. When she was satisfied with how wet at least her hair was, Rey turned off the water and started getting ready for bed.

When her wet hair was tightly braided and her pyjamas donned, Rey stepped out. The lights in the bedroom were off and Ben was folded into his usual foetal position, which she was sure was the only way for him to comfortably lie on his too small bed. Of course, she assumed he was already asleep and climbed into her own bed. Tired from the day’s work, she fell asleep rather quickly.

Rey dreamed for the first time since she was a child. In her mind’s eye, she and Ben were in a lavishly furnished room with a bed large enough for three people. They were both wearing simple clothes, but nothing like what was furnished by the First Order.

* * *

Three days of it. Kylo felt he was actually grasping the technology under Rey’s tutelage. Surprisingly, he was enjoying himself for likely the first time since he was a child. That evening, Rey was taking a surprisingly long time in the shower, but he felt it might have had something to do with her time on Jakku, so he didn’t plan to question her about it.

He pulled his hair out of the borrowed tie and curled up on his bed. It was quite easy for him to get to sleep, a feat unique to his current situation. He had never spent more than a few moments free of Snoke’s influence. In fact, if he considered it, it was as if his master had completely disappeared from his mind. He had surprisingly pleasant dreams, likely for the first time in his life.

He and Rey were in a room similar to the one his mother had slept in when he was a child. Their clothes were plain and the atmosphere was heavily sexual.

Without a word, he lowered himself to Rey’s level, pulling her into a passionate kiss. He let his hands wander down her body and she took his prompting to do the same, pushing her hands under his loose shirt to reach his skin. He was content with simply kissing her in that moment.

Rey appeared to have more ambitious ideas, as she started attempting to strip him of his clothes. He couldn’t help but laugh as she struggled with the task. He pulled his shirt over his head and cast it aside. He was just about to catch her in another kiss when she touched her lips to his chest.

* * *

Ben bent to her level, very nearly getting onto his knees in front of her, and pulled her into a passionate kiss, his hands wandering down her body. Rey mimicked his motion, pushing her hands under his shirt to trace her fingers along his scarred skin. He seemed content simply kissing her, but Rey had other ideas. She pushed his shirt up and tried to get it off of him.

Laughing, Ben broke away from her and removed his shirt himself. Before he could reclaim her lips, Rey kissed one of his scars softly. She trailed kisses along the map of his torso, pausing to pay close attention to the occasional freckle. With her hands freed, she opened his pants and pushed them down. She pulled back just long enough to see that he was hard under his underwear.

Licking her lips, she knelt in front of him and pulled his boxers down. She glanced up to see a mixed expression on his face. He nodded a little in consent and she took him into her mouth, using all of her experience and tips from the camp harlots. Of course just this wasn’t enough for her, but she’d finish what she started at least.

It surprised her when it took a while finishing him off. But at the same time, it was satisfying to her, because she figured that meant he'd be able to last until _she_ was finished. When he finally finished with an undignified grunt, Rey pulled away from him and excused herself just long enough to spit the tart (and altogether disgusting to her) fluid down the drain and rinse her mouth out a little.

She didn't mind giving oral sex, in fact she almost enjoyed it, but she'd never been able to stomach the end result. She returned to the room and mumbled an apology. Ben seemed all right with the interruption and motioned for her to come closer. She joined him and he immediately moved to remove her blouse.

Rey helped him and then removed her pants and underwear. Before she could do anything else, he pushed her onto the bed. His touch was gentle, but caught off guard, she shouted in distress. He apologized immediately and she shook her head, clarifying that he'd only surprised her.

Anticipating the next part of this, she laid down on the bed, spreading her legs to give him access. Unfortunately, he surprised her again by leaning over her and simply trailing his fingers nimbly down her body, tracing her muscle tones. He kissed her softly, but didn't give her a moment to react before moving his mouth to kiss what felt like every part of her skin.

He carefully avoided her nipples with his mouth and when his fingers ghosted over her pubic hairs but moved to touch her legs, she bit back a dismayed moan. He was teasing her and she didn't like to be teased. The last person that had teased her like this left her hanging and didn't even give her the payment agreed on. Of course, there was no agreement between Rey and Ben, only heat and lust.

All at once, and rather suddenly, he latched onto her breast, biting almost gently at her raised nipples and his long fingers slipped into her. Surprised at the sudden onslaught of touches, Rey gasped. Then he found a little bundle of nerves that sent her squirming under his touch. It was all she could do to keep her legs apart. She couldn't even form coherent sounds.

He continued the assault, suckling at her breast and working his fingers inside her. His other hand landed on her unattended breast and he pinched her nipples. She was sure in amongst the incoherent moaning and indescribable sounds she was making she might have made a plea for him to be rougher. She certainly _wanted_ him to be rougher with her.

Whether she managed to make her desire coherent or not, he obliged. But then, abruptly, he froze. She glared weakly at him and questioned him. He pulled away from her, but said nothing. Instead, he lowered himself to the ground and kissed the skin above her pubes. She questioned him again, but his only answer was to press his tongue against her.

Something that sounded akin to a Shyriiwook curse escaped her throat and he chuckled against her. Her cheeks flushed and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle the noises as she squirmed uncontrollably on the bed.

It was a surprisingly short time before her entire body tensed up. Her back arched as her orgasm wracked her body. In all her experience, no one else had made her orgasm before, it was always something she’d had to work out on her own after all was said and done.

Rey relaxed on the bed and caught her breath as she came down from the high brought on by her orgasm. Ben barely gave her a moment to rest before he bent over her, positioning himself. He paused, as if wanting her consent, and she nodded a little. He pushed into her and Rey bit her lip to stifle the noise that she nearly made.

* * *

Kylo woke with a start, sweating. He very nearly rolled over to look at Rey, wondering if by some chance they’d _shared_ that dream. He could hear her heavy breathing across the room and he did look over his shoulder. She sat up and looked at him. He quickly looked at the wall.

“Ben…are you awake?” Rey asked quietly.

“Yes...,” he replied after a moment, sitting up. He glanced at her to see that she was clearly sweating. “Something wrong?”

She groaned and turned fully to face him, her legs dangling over the edge of her bed. He quirked an eyebrow, carefully prodding at her mind with the Force. The dream that had woken _him_ up was fresh in her mind. Somehow they _had_ shared the dream.

Then he caught it. Snoke had mentioned an awakening in the Force. Something was guarding Rey, but now that he focused on her, he could tell that she was probably the one Snoke had sensed. He pulled back, not wanting to invade her privacy at this point.

“What are the First Order’s policies on…having sex with co-workers?” she asked after a moment. He paused, thinking about it.

“As far as I know…there isn’t,” he replied.

“Then…,” she paused, worrying her lip. “I’m sorry, I was used to a fairly active sex life on Jakku...”

“I see…,” he murmured, realizing how they’d managed to share a dream. Put two Force users in a room together in a similar emotional state and a shared dream would be possible, in theory. “Well…if you want…,” he trailed off, not sure why he was about to make this offer.

“You’re not offering to have sex with me, are you?” she questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

“I am, actually…,” he sighed. In all honesty, it surprised him that it had taken three days for one of them to bring this up.

“Okay then,” she said with a shrug before vaulting herself across the room to crush him with a powerful kiss. It was only because he was able to brace himself at the right moment that he wasn’t shoved into the wall. Because he’d just been using the Force, all of her lust and emotion poured into him from the contact, almost overwhelming Kylo.

He recovered from Rey’s onslaught and returned the kiss, careful not to push his own emotions on her.

* * *

Rey watched Ben carefully, hoping she didn’t have to actually ask him for sex. At the rate her libido was going, it would come to that. She made a comment about her sex life, to explain in part her problem.

“Well…if you want…,” Ben started and she blinked.

“You’re not offering to have sex with me, are you?” she questioned, almost hoping he was having the same problem.

“I am, actually…,” he replied. She took that as his consent.

“Okay then,” she said with a light shrug. She then flung herself across the room and into his arms, crushing him with a rather needy kiss. After a moment, he kissed her in return and she almost frantically tried to get his shirt off of him.

Unlike the dream, which was full of slow tension and release, this was pure lust. They broke apart just long enough to get out of their shirts before they were kissing again. Rey ran her fingers along one of Ben’s many scars and his big hands massaged her breasts almost roughly.

They were both already drenched in sweat by this point, likely before they’d even woke and started this. After a long beat, Rey got tired of simply kissing him, and she pealed herself away from him. She pulled her pants and underwear off and Ben quickly followed suit. Almost out of habit from her previous sexual encounters, she knelt in front of him and started to give him oral sex.

“No,” he said simply, pulling her up. She started to argue, wondering if he was about to leave her hanging, but he silenced her with a soft kiss. “That’s not necessary.”

“But—“ He cut her off with another kiss, lifting her off the ground easily. “Ben, what—“

“It’s really not necessary,” he repeated, putting her on the bed. He climbed over her and she spread her legs to give him access. In all honesty, she half expected him to do what he’d done in her dream and give _her_ oral sex, but he simply pressed his fingers into her, testing the waters. “Are you sure you want this, Rey?”

“I’m sure,” she replied. Then, without warning, he pushed into her. She gasped, though she wasn’t surprised at how easy it was. She’d already been wet enough when she woke up.

Ben set a steady rhythm, moving his fingers to touch her in all the _right_ places. Panting and trying to do more than just lay there on the receiving end, Rey splayed her hands on his chest, tracing his scars. She wrapped one of her arms around him and pulled herself up enough to kiss one of the scars.

Ben clearly took that as a prompting to change positions and, without removing himself from her, shifted into a sitting position. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed his collar bone. Rey bounced a little to meet his thrusts.

* * *

When all was said and done, Kylo fell onto his pillow with Rey beside him. Some of her hair was sticking to her face and he had no idea what sort of mess his own hair was. He certainly wanted to take a shower to get rid of all the sweat. He imagined Rey would want to clean up as well, considering where he’d let it out on her.

After they caught their breath fully, Rey pushed herself up on her elbow and looked him in the eyes. He turned a little.

“So…who wants to shower first?” she asked lightly.

“There’s a limited amount of time we can use the hot water,” he pointed out.

“My shower earlier was cold the entire time,” she replied, as if he’d been referring to her very long shower earlier in the evening. “Why don’t we shower together?” she suggested coyly, tracing one of his scars with the tip of her finger.

He smiled a little and nodded. Kylo got out of the bed first and went to the next room, turning on the water. Rey soon followed him, pulling her hair out of its braid. They stepped into the shower and immediately, Rey was kissing him.

* * *

 

“Why don’t we shower together?” Rey suggested, trying to sound coy as she traced one of Ben’s scars gently. He gave a crooked smile that oddly reminded her of Han Solo and nodded his agreement. He went to the shower first and Rey sat up in the bed.

She paused a moment, considering. If she really thought about it, there were a _lot_ of things he had in common with both Han and Leia as far as looks went, but it was impossible. Of course, she didn’t know if they had a child, but surely if they did, she figured she would have met them on the Resistance base. She shrugged it off and joined Ben in the next room, pulling her hair out of its braid.

They stepped under the warm spray together and Rey pulled Ben down into a kiss. She lowered her free hand and wrapped her fingers around him. It honestly didn’t take more than a moment before he was ready to go again. She smiled a bit and Ben hooked his hands under her legs, hoisting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and guided him into her.

It was slippery going, and Ben nearly slipped a couple of times, but Rey enjoyed it thoroughly. It felt like their hands were everywhere at once, and for a moment, Rey got the odd feeling of something _extra_ involved. If she had to explain it, it would be almost like putting her fingers inside herself, wet and slippery around an overly sensitive extremity.

The odd, extra, feeling passed within a moment and Ben pulled out of her to finish. Rey untangled her legs and dropped to the ground carefully. She stepped back to let Ben shampoo and wash himself up while she did the same. Her idea was that since she had longer hair and her own cleaning process took a little longer, she could do everything but rinse while her companion did his own cleaning.

They managed to finish their shower before their hot water allowance expired. As she was braiding her hair, afterwards, Rey got another odd feeling, this time as if she was watching her own back. She glanced at Ben and said nothing, as the feeling quickly passed. She shook it off and finished with her hair before going back to the room to retrieve her pyjamas.

The soft garments were soaked through and smelled of sweat, so she put them in the laundry basket to be cleaned while they worked the next day. Rey yawned, suddenly quite spent.

 _Of course I’m exhausted_ , she thought to herself, glancing at the chronometer. She was sure it had been nearly two hours since she and Ben had woken mysteriously at the same time. She crawled into her bed without bothering with clothes of any sort and settled in.

* * *

Kylo stayed in the washroom a bit longer than Rey did, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He’d slipped up at least once, he thought. He’d tried very hard to keep from pushing anything on Rey through the force, but he was almost certain he’d failed in that.

He shook his head a little, pushing his worries aside. Rey hadn’t mentioned anything, so he decided to leave it be. What worried him more, honestly, was that he could clearly see his parents in his reflection. If anything would ruin his life it would be being associated with them. Or at least…that’s what he thought before going to bed stark naked.

“Ben…?” Rey asked quietly as he tried to get comfortable in his bed.

“Hm?”

“Sorry if this is prying, but…where are you from?”

“D’Qar,” he answered without really thinking about it. “But I left a long time ago…”

“Really? Were you with the Resistance?”

“I left long before the Resistance was officially formed…,” he sighed, regretting that he hadn’t put at least a little thought into his answer. _No…_ , he thought bitterly. _The Resistance was formed because I left._

Fortunately, Rey dropped the subject and he tried to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the months of waiting were worth it guys...let me know what you think. I don't write sex often and this was a LOT of sex...and before anyone asks why this was almost entirely in Rey's perspective...I'm female and honestly have no idea how a person with a penis would feel during sex...


	5. The Next Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After mutually sating their libidos, Rey and Kylo discuss the Force...or try to.

The next morning, Rey woke with an odd feeling of satisfaction. Maybe it was because of all the sex the night before. That was probably it, the satisfaction of finally sating her libido. There was, however, a tinge of some other feeling she couldn’t quite place.

A glance at the chronometer told her that she had at least an hour before Ben would wake up and then another half hour after that before ‘breakfast’. So, she shifted in her bed into a meditative position, trying to concentrate. She had a mission, and a plan on how to complete it. It was very clear to her, and she hoped that either Ben wouldn’t catch on or he’d help.

She recalled his all too familiar smirk from the night before and in her mind’s eye, she brought an image of Han making a similar expression into view. The two looked almost the same, even if Han was _much_ older. The similarities could have been a coincidence, of course, but she got the feeling it wasn’t so.

She pushed that aside and considered the odd feelings that had hit her while she and Ben had been together. Somehow, it reminded her of that odd probing sensation she’d had when talking with Kailash back on D’Qar. Han had told her that the Force is a real thing, and she’d heard of some of the things the Force was capable of. She knew that mind reading was one of those things, but she didn’t know if it was normal to actually _feel_ the intrusion. She also didn’t know if what had happened the night before, those altogether _odd_ sensations were somehow Force related.

She pushed those worries aside and focused more on her plan. She’d have to figure out the surveillance system on the base, maybe even find a way to loop footage to avoid suspicion. She would also need patrol schedules. It wasn’t going to be easy, and she hoped she’d have enough time to finish what she needed to get done before the standoff between the factions turned into open war.

“Rey,” she heard Ben say and her eyes snapped open. A glance at the chronometer told her that an hour had already passed. She sighed and unfolded her limbs to get up and dress. “Do you meditate often?”

“I didn’t even know I could manage it…,” she replied.

* * *

Kylo woke feeling refreshed. Then he felt a rippling in the Force. At first, he assumed it was his master checking in on him, but the signature was too _pure_ for that to be the case. A bit of focus told him it was Rey. He sat up and looked over at her bed. Not surprisingly, some of the lighter things in the room were levitating with her unwitting use of the Force.

Quickly and quietly, he reached out with the Force to lower the objects back to their positions and stood. For some reason, he hoped that Snoke didn’t notice that Rey was the one who had awakened to the Force. Curious about what she was thinking about, he lightly probed Rey’s mind, but suddenly found himself blocked out by a completely different Force Signature.

 _Kailash_ , he thought bitterly, recognizing it. _She must have pre-emptively put a block around Rey’s mind…_

That was well enough, he decided, as he wasn’t sure what to do about this development just yet. If she caught on that he was a Force User, there was no telling what would happen. And he wasn’t in the mood to explain why _Kylo Ren_ was posing as a radar technician named Ben.

“Rey,” he said after he finished sorting his own thoughts. The girl snapped out of her meditation and moved to get dressed. “Do you meditate often?” he questioned absently, following suit.

“I didn’t even know I could manage it…,” she replied softly, bending to retrieve fresh underwear.

Kylo watched her, the night before playing in his mind and making him almost want to ask if she would have him again right then and there. Of course, he kept that to himself as they both got dressed. There was no time for sex when they had less than half an hour to get to breakfast and then to their assignment for the day. The time constraint didn’t stop him from thinking it, however.

“So…,” he said after getting his pants on. “About last night…”

“What about it?” she asked softly.

“What does it mean?” he asked in return, unable to come to terms with it. He’d never woken up in the same room as someone he’d had sex with before, as they were all prostitutes.

“I’m…not sure,” she replied quietly, almost too soft for him to catch. “For now, it was simply pent up lust…”

“And…,” he trailed off, unsure how to voice his surprising concern about how their seeming friendship would be effected.

“I can compartmentalize,” she said simply.

“So can I,” he agreed. They finished getting ready, but before they got into the hall, Rey caught his hand.

“Ben, do you…know anything about the Force?” she murmured.

“I…,” he paused. “No, not really,” he lied after a long moment.

“Ah, okay then.” No other words were exchanged between them as they went down to the mess hall and got in the line.

* * *

 

The day passed with relative ease, despite the feeling Rey got that Ben had lied to her that morning about his knowledge of the Force. They finished their assignments early and went to the library together, having formed a bit of a routine already. She would train Ben on the job, and when they finished, they’d go to the library, where he would study the texts on mechanics and she would study the base blueprints.

That day, however, she explored the library a bit, searching for information about the Force. Of course, she found history books detailing a version of the war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Mention of Darth Vader was made in almost glowing embellishment. Rey put the text away and continued her search.

At a point, likely an hour in, she felt a similar pull to when that lightsaber had called to her with those horrible visions. She followed the pull to a shelf, but it was coming from above. So, she started the climb, hoping that when she touched whatever was calling out to her she wasn’t caught up in another vision that might cause her to lose her grip and fall to the ground.

Fortunately, the data pad she found had no effect on her. She tucked it into her shirt and descended to the ground carefully. When her feet were on solid ground, she examined the thin object she’d uncovered. It didn’t seem to be a data pad at all. In fact, it seemed to be something rather well-disguised as a data pad. She tucked it back into her shirt, getting the feeling it was something meant to be hidden, and went back to her search.

* * *

Kylo finished reading the last text on mechanics that he’d grabbed for the day, oddly enjoying himself yet again. He shut off the data pad and looked up to ask if Rey wanted to get an early dinner and call it a day, but she wasn’t across the table from him as usual. He blinked in surprise. She spent every afternoon memorizing the base blueprints and any information on the weapon she could get hold of.

Concerned, he stacked his materials neatly and went on the hunt for her, searching carefully in the Force. He found her after about half an hour, scaling the shelves rather than using the ladder barely a metre away. He glanced around, trying to figure out what she was looking for. The general subject matter in that particular area was speculation on the Force from non-Sensitive writers. Kylo sighed tiredly and waited for her to come down.

When the former scavenger lighted on the ground, she seemed more than a little frustrated. It wasn’t really surprising to him. After all, anything written by anyone properly educated in the Force, would be either in the Restricted Section, or at the old Sith Temple that Snoke called home. And he couldn’t quite let her into the Restricted Section without revealing his true identity to her.

“Oh…Ben,” Rey gasped, spotting him. “I guess it’s already time to go to dinner?”

“It’s a little early,” he assured her. “What were you looking for?”

“It may sound strange, but information about the Force…,” she sighed.

“It’s not that strange. But why are you suddenly so interested in it?”

“Well, until recently, I thought the Force was just a myth…but then I saw…this woman on the Resistance base lifting things without touching them and training some of the fighters how to resist Force attacks…,” she trailed off. “That bit didn’t go so well…”

Kylo couldn’t help but laugh a bit at her description, recalling a time when Kailash attempted to convince Luke to teach his students both to use and defend against the trademark powers of the Sith. Of course, the notion hadn’t set well with his stubborn uncle. He had been told once that Luke had originally denied many of the old Jedi notions his teachers had attempted to push on him, but of course Kylo had no idea what changed the man’s mind.

“You’re probably not going to find anything on this base…,” he murmured. “Maybe if we were at the Supreme Leader’s home base…or wherever Kylo Ren’s hiding out…”

“I guess you’re right…,” Rey agreed. “Well, let’s go to dinner, shall we?”

Kylo nodded and they went to the mess hall.

* * *

After dinner, Rey went back to the room and tucked her find from the library under her bed. Ben came into the room a moment after she’d finished.

“So, what did you find in the library?” he asked lightly, sitting on his bed.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Ben…can I trust you?”

“Why would you ask that?” he questioned.

“Forget I asked,” she said sharply, suddenly getting the feeling she was about to get in over her head with that topic.

“Rey, you can trust me,” he sighed. She felt something like a prodding sensation against the edges of her awareness. Her new awareness of the Force, and recalling its famed tactics, she realized that the sensation was likely someone trying to read her mind without being caught.

“Are you…trying to read my mind?” she gasped, staring at him. “ _You_ can use the Force!”

“What? No, I’m—“

“I’ve felt someone poking around at the edge of my mind before,” she snapped, cutting him off. “You’re a Force user…!” she hissed.

And of course the first name that came to mind when she realized all of this, was _Kylo Ren_. Was this meant to be some form of test for former Resistance fighters? And if it was…what had it meant when he’d had sex with her the night before? Of course, her speculations would be mum if her guess was wrong.

“Rey, I’m not a Force user,” he insisted.

“Ben,” she bit. He flinched minutely at the name, as she’d gotten used to. “That’s…not your real name, is it?”

“No…it is,” he sighed, and she could tell he was telling the truth.

“So I suppose _Kylo Ren_ is what? An alias?” she questioned, more harshly than she’d intended.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rey…,” he said sharply.

“I can tell you’re lying.” Rey jabbed her finger into his chest. “All I want to know…is _why_ …”

“You’re a lot stronger than I thought…,” he said softly, looking at his bed. She narrowed her eyes. “I’d hoped you wouldn’t figure this out until later, if at all…”

“You’re dodging my question,” she pointed out.

“I’m being punished,” he told her.

“Punished? For _what_?”

“Losing that damned droid, among a string of related failures.”

“So…what? You messed up and got demoted?” she pressed.

“The Supreme Leader doesn’t take failure well…,” he sighed.

“Sounds familiar…,” she muttered.

“Junk bosses not all that friendly?” he asked her, a semblance of a smirk forming on his wide lips.

“Depending on the situation…I’ve gone hungry for up to a week or more at a time…,” she admitted.

“That’s…un-sentient.”

“Depending on his mood, Plutt would up the portion prices…not to mention the fact that if you don’t exchange parts or credits, you don’t get food…,” she trailed off, recalling days when she’d suffered from heat stroke or even her monthly blood and gone hungry because of it, barely surviving on small amounts of water. Of course, she had no idea if she was pushing those memories on Ben or if his suddenly deep frown was simply because of what she’d said.

* * *

Kylo frowned deeply, catching Rey’s surface thoughts. Her worst memories of Jakku cropped up with the topic. Oddly, it was slightly different from reading other peoples’ minds, more…tangible, he thought. If he focused on her memories, rather than simply observing them as an outsider, he could almost feel his stomach contract with a level of hunger he’d never experienced.

“Rey…,” he started, placing what he hoped was a comforting hand on hers. He suddenly felt compelled to tell her everything about himself, but he was sure she wouldn’t want to know his history. Then he recalled the question that had started the conversation. “You probably don’t trust me at all, knowing the truth about me…”

“That depends…,” she murmured. “Have you been acting this whole time?”

“I’m a terrible actor,” he admitted.

“If I told you…hypothetically…that I’m actually working for the Resistance right now…would you turn me in?”

Her question threw him off. Kylo stared at her almost blankly as he processed it, automatically probing her mind a little to see if she was really being hypothetical or simply hedging. Her eyes narrowed, and he stopped.

“Well… _are_ you working for my mother?” he asked, assuming she’d been told of his parentage. The confusion on Rey’s face told him she hadn’t been informed of that. “They didn’t tell you?”

She shook her head in response and he sighed, deciding to go ahead and tell her. Of course it would take too long to tell her absolutely everything, so he took a moment to sort out the important details of his past. His parentage and the fact that he was the one to destroy his own uncle’s attempt at reviving the Jedi Order were the most important details; everything else was a bland and rather sorry excuse for a sob story.

“General Organa is my mother,” he said after a moment. “If you weren’t told, Han Solo is her husband…and if they told you about why Luke Skywalker disappeared, I was the traitorous student,” he tried to keep his tone nonchalant, but wasn’t sure if he managed. Oddly enough, he almost felt guilty for what he’d done.

He watched as Rey took in the information. She didn’t seem all that surprised, which made him wonder if she’d guessed it before. He’d been told when he was younger that he looked like his father, but he hadn’t accepted the resemblance.

“Why’d you do it then?” she asked softly, sitting on the bed beside him. The question startled him.

 _Why_ did _I do any of the things I’ve done?_ He wondered. Then he nearly reached out mentally to his master for guidance and realized just what his reasoning was. Suddenly everything he’d done for Snoke seemed less justified and more pointless.

And if he said anything along the lines of ‘Snoke made me do it’ it would sound like he didn’t think he was guilty. He’d sanctioned and supervised countless murders, even delivering the final blow on many. All of this, he had been complicit in, never questioning the logic that Snoke presented.

But if he really thought about it, he couldn’t remember _when_ Snoke had first entered his mind. Maybe he had always been there, twisting every word and action from his family members and those who dared attempt to make friends with him as a child.

“Ben…?” Rey pressed, touching his knee. Kylo shook his head a little, shaken from his thoughts.

“I…anything I say at this point would sound like an excuse…,” he said softly, not looking at her. Five days without Snoke’s presence in his mind and Kylo was already falling from the path he’d been placed on. Five days into this trial and he’d failed miserably. _Obey or die_ , he thought, remembering the philosophy of both the old Empire and the First Order. Unless by some miracle he could grovel at Snoke’s feet after this was over and convince his master that he was still useful and wouldn’t backslide again, he would be dead the moment the weapon was truly ready to fire.

Snoke would have him watch the destruction of D’Qar, his old home, his family, the friends he might have once had, even Rey, and then Kylo himself would be killed. The thought of it sickened him. Because he’d had a small taste of freedom (if it could be called that) and he enjoyed it.

He found himself wanting to ask Rey to help him steal a Tie Fighter and flee to D’Qar to apologize and even grovel at his mother’s feet seeking forgiveness. The only thing he’d ever really wanted was acceptance, and he realized now that he’d always had it with his family. He came close to reaching out to his mother through the Force, but stopped himself, knowing that Snoke would be paying close attention to that sort of thing in order to see if Kylo was maintaining his connection to the Dark Side.

* * *

Rey watched as Ben seemed to be having some sort of internal conflict. His tone had told her that he felt some form of regret for his actions, and she knew somehow (likely because of the Force) that it was genuine. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what to do. Somehow in the conversation, she’d put both feet in her mouth and jumped into an abyss.

 _Well_ , she decided. _It’s too late to worry about that now…if he turns me in, it’s my own damn fault_.

“I’m not going to turn you in,” he sighed. She hadn’t even caught him probing at her mind again. Maybe she’d pushed that to him or something. She still had no real idea of how the Force worked or how to control it. “Rey, I—“ she touched his lips gently, feeling that if they kept talking they wouldn’t get any sleep and if she was going to properly sabotage the Starkiller, they both needed to be well rested.

“We can talk later,” she told him. “It’s starting to get late and we have work in the morning.” He nodded dumbly, her fingers still over his mouth.

His eyes closed and he kissed the old callouses on her fingertips. She blinked and he reached up to grab her wrist gently. He carefully pulled her hand away from his face and leaned over to kiss her. This wasn’t what she’d intended when she’d tried to close conversation, but she wasn’t going to complain.

Rey returned the kiss, putting her free hand to his neck to pull him closer. The hand that was holding her wrist shifted to grasp her hand, their fingers tangling together. She shifted herself to sit in his lap. The position was a little awkward, so she broke away from him.

 _What…?_ She could have sworn she heard him speak, but his mouth hadn’t moved. She shrugged it off and stripped to her underwear before climbing onto his lap with her legs on either side of his hips. Rey smiled and put both of her arms over his shoulders before kissing him passionately.

Ben got her hint and put one hand between them, pushing her bindings out of his way to grasp her breast. She smiled against his lips and pulled him a little closer, rocking her hips a bit against his forming erection. He groaned and began massaging her breasts in force with both hands.

Rey’s hands moved to the hem of his shirt and she tugged the fabric up. They broke apart just long enough for her to get it over his head and out of her way. She then rested her head on his shoulder and kissed his throat softly as she trailed her hands down his torso to open his pants.

“Rey…,” he murmured.

“Hm?” She moved to kiss his collar bone.

“Are you going to let me get comfortable or do you get to have all the fun?” he joked. She laughed a little and crawled off of him.

“I was thinking I’d help,” she said simply, lowering herself to her knees in front of him. She pulled his pants down carefully, somehow managing to get them off of him without the need for him to move. She did the same with his boxers and kissed the tip of him.

“Rey, you don’t have to—“

“I want to,” she cut him off, taking him into her mouth.


End file.
